Industry to become contactless, staffing to reduce, capital inflow in 2021: Mandeep S Lamba

At this time, the hotel industry is fraught with uncertainty and confusion on how to go forward with the hotel operations and win back on the consumer's trust. The pandemic has unravelled difficult times for the people and extraordinary changes are expected to solve the challenges.

Mandeep S Lamba, President (South Asia), HVS Anarock was one of the eminent speakers at ‘Breaking the Pandemic WeBBlast: Getting Indian Hospitality Back "Hear The Honchos" organized by BW HOTELIER. A hospitality professional with a track record in leadership positions of over 35 years in varied roles with international leading organizations including 17 years in CEO positions, there is no better person to look up to for insights that could create a positive rift in the hospitality than him.

Given the apparent changes that are happening during the pandemic, Lamba stated that the industry is going to become contactless and many operations will happen online. In his opinion, the staffing level in the industry will greatly reduce. Lamba also pointed out that there are going to be serious changes in the design in the coming days. One of the key concerns in the hospitality sector is that of future investments and capital flow. To that, Lamba shared: “A lot of investment and capital flow will come into the sector. Some of the hotels will change hands. Not much in 2020, but in 2021 there will be a significant inflow of capital.”    

The two hour-long webinar session saw the participation of eminent people from the industry. The questions posed were taken up by the speaker.

In the days to come, the use of technology will become more critical in the days ahead. Lamba believes that the hotel rooms will be redesigned as virtual assistants (like Alexa) coupled with smart hardware systems like smart bulbs and fans. He also touched upon the prevalent fears among the young graduates getting into the hotel sector. “As an industry, it's not going anywhere due to COVID-19. The industry will bounce back, and there will be demand,” said Lamba.